Monday 7 June 2021: Last Friday, at Mount Sinai Hospital, in New York City, at near daybreak, just a few minutes short of 5 am, my daughter, Chloe, became a mother.
Weighing in at 7 pounds 13 ounces, her baby, Renée, made Jonny, her husband, a first-time father, simultaneously launching me into grandparenthood.
Nine months ago, I successfully survived a life-threatening heart attack; the same amount of time later, Chloe and Jonny gift me a grandchild, making me both highly delighted and very proud and, God knows, enormously grateful.
The Book of Proverbs says “grandchildren are the crown of the aged”. Approaching my 74th birthday, I can confirm I feel very rounded off. The meaning of Renée – ‘born again’ – is thus very apt.
I will first see and hold Renée in August/September, which is when Chloe and Jonny will next be in the UK.
Meanwhile, I am restricted to photographs and videos, which I am receiving on a daily basis, keeping me well in touch with developments. I like the videos best of all, for they allow me to hear Renée and see her move.